As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to these users is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may vary with respect to the type of information handled; the methods for handling the information; the methods for processing, storing or communicating the information; the amount of information processed, stored, or communicated; and the speed and efficiency with which the information is processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include or comprise a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
The information handling system may include one or more operating systems. An operating system serves many functions, such as controlling access to hardware resources and controlling the execution of application software. Operating systems also provide resources and services to support application software. These resources and services may include a file system, a centralized configuration database (such as the registry found in Microsoft Windows operating systems), a directory service, a graphical user interface, a networking stack, device drivers, and device management software. In some instances, services may be provided by other application software running on the information handling system, such as a database server.
Some information handling systems are designed to interact with other information handling systems over a computer network connection. In particular, certain information handling systems may be designed to monitor, configure, and adjust the features, functionality, and software of other information handling systems by communicating with those information handling systems over a network connection. For example, one information handling system might be configured to manage the installation and updating of software on several other information handling systems.
In the context of the present disclosure, the term “network appliance” may refer to any device, such as an information handling system, which may include a combination of hardware, firmware, and/or software, that is capable of performing a set of operations or functions in connection with or over a computer network. The actual set of operations or functions a specific network appliance is capable of performing often depends on the hardware, firmware, and/or software included in that appliance. In the very least, however, a network appliance should be capable of being connected to a computer network.
System management appliances automate file distribution over a network and are available to save time for systems administration professionals and to save money for their companies. System administration professionals seeking to distribute licensed software and systems over a network to many network resources are often constrained by complex, time-consuming, and non-automated deployment. Performing system and software deployment has become increasingly challenging and time-consuming across diverse network, hardware, and software platforms.
Programs are available that archive, backup, and virtualize file systems, such as WinZip, Apple Disk Image, and VMware. Each of these programs use various methods to compress and encrypt platform-specific files. Each of these file systems that are created have various issues. For example, WinZip is considered an archival method, not a virtualization method. Even though .zip files may be transported between various computing devices on a network, the .zip files cannot be mounted and constituent files cannot be directly updated in place. In order for .zip files to be updated, they must first be extracted to a local copy and then replaced into the .zip file. Apple Disk Image backs up data in a copy but performs more like an archival method as opposed to a virtualization method. Further, Apple Disk Image has compatibility issues. For example, an Apple Disk Image, or a .dmg disk image, works only on Mac OS X and has a fixed size set at creation time, as it is essentially a raw disk image, or a backup copy of a hard disk. VMware also has compatibility issues. For example, a VMware virtual disk system created using Windows can be stored as files on a host computer or on a remote storage device but can only be accessed by a Windows machine. Thus, such file systems do not aid systems administration professionals who seek to deploy files across diverse network, hardware, and software platforms.
There are continuous efforts to improve the quality of the cross-platform file distribution over a network. Developers strive to improve file distribution management by reducing processing time and increasing network efficiency.